Free jazz pianist, composer, and upstanding citizen Matthew Shipp has recently announced an exciting collaboration with multimedia artist and avant-garde filmmaker Barbara Januszkiewicz. Having already wowed us this year with his monumental double-disc release, The Art of the Improviser (TMT Review), Shipp has decided to further his ever-evolving craft with a new and challenging endeavor in avant-garde filmmaking and composition.

A fitting partnership between two boundary-breaking risk-takers, the film, titled The Composer, is advertised by the duet as a “unique fusion of artistic vision” and that it “can be described as witnessing creative vision, an inspirational moment with the piano. And not any piano but a Fazioli.” The film is predicted to be approximately 45 minutes in length and feature the relationship between Shipp and his instrument, the piano.

So when will you see/hear/feel/love/stick your dick in this thing? Well, that’s up to you. The artists have set up a Kickstarter page to acquire the necessary funding for the project. Pledges will fund travel expenses, equipment, post production, music, editing assistance, sound mixing, graphic design, fees for showcases work, etc. For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, the web site allows artists to set up fundraisers for creative projects. The catch is, to avoid risks for both artists and benefactors, the system is all or nothing. The financial goal is met by the deadline, or no one is charged, and the project dies. It DIES. So pitch in.

Last year, Google announced that it was making adjustments to its search algorithms to prevent generic piracy-related search terms from auto-completing or appearing during instant searches. Following this action, the number of successful Google searches for terms like “BitTorrent” and “RapidShare” decreased dramatically. Taking further action, Google announced last week that it has extended the ban to specific domain names of sites that it deems to be potential havens for piracy, including file sharing sites like The Pirate Bay and ExtraTorrent and virtual “locker” sites like FileServe. So far, Google has not disclosed how it selects terms for inclusion in the search censorship.

The timing of this expansion coincides with Google’s desire to placate rights holders as it moves into the music business. Google has deals in place with two of the three major label groups, and to stay in their good graces, it will need to demonstrate that it’s actively interested in curtailing the promotion of piracy through its other services. While this is good for their new music venture, it’s not exactly in line with their motto of not being evil. Many of the sites that Google is blocking from their auto-complete and instant search features are legitimate sites that don’t break copyright laws but are being included here because it’s assumed by rightsholders that they’re siphoning income away from their antiquated business model.

Google is starting to become something of a paradox, publicly rallying against copyright laws like the Protect IP Act (S. 968), but then taking action on its own accord to censor and police how its search service serves up content. Parties looking to find these sites using Google still can, but this adjustment is definitely a move in the wrong direction of trying to keep the internet free and open while still respecting rights and compensating artists for their work.

What would it sound like if mystical unicorns cranked up the ethereal knob on their synthesizers and acted out select scenes from The X-Files while high on ecstasy? It would probably sound a lot like what The Guardian calls Montreal-based artist Grimes’ “outer-limits pop.” The lady behind the jams is Canadian Claire Boucher, a shining light of the DIY loft scene based around Lab Synthèse, a huge former textile factory where punk rock attitude and atmospheric R&B get down and make beautiful little textured electronica babies. Grimes’ last release, a split album with fellow Canadian D’Eon, has been racking up accolades, and now she’s got yet another album, Visions, coming out January 31 on Arbutus. Grand total: four albums, two years. (There MUST be unicorns involved. There’s no other possible explanation.)

Anyway, Ms. Boucher and her merry band of magical creatures will be heading out on the road this winter along with pals Born Gold. This isn’t Grimes’ first time on the road — she opened for Lykke Li on her 2011 fall tour — but this could be the first time audiences get to bathe in her hazy occult soundscapes before she blows up into the big time. Check your Chinese Astrological calendars and tell me I’m wrong! It’s on there. 2012: Year of the Grimes.

Balam Acab can hear you. He can hear you compiling your year-end lists. And he can hear that his debut full-length Wander/Wonder (TMT Review) isn’t on there, even though you did like it a lot. Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Acab doesn’t take much offense: he knows he did a good job. He understands that you just forgot about him. That’s cool, you’ll remember him soon. You’ll remember him… when he comes to your town.

Over the month of December, Balam Acab will be touring the United States, forcing people to acknowledge his presence. Mainly, he’ll be doing this by playing live shows. I don’t… I don’t know if you thought maybe this was going to be something more sinister? No, he’ll just be playing shows and making sure that people know that he and his ghostly productions exist. Of course, he’ll mainly be making himself known to people who bought tickets and attended these shows, the majority of which are probably already very familiar with his music. Balam Acab, I have found a flaw in your plan! Plan B: pound on some windows.

Have you ever been listening to the Pixies and found yourself thinking, “Hmm, there’s too many words in here!” I KNOW, ALL THE TIME, RIGHT? Well don’t turn off your stereo just yet, college rock fans, because the Pixies’ Joey Santiago and David Lovering have joined forces to create experimental instrumental rock band The Everybody. And they’ve got a split 7-inch coming atcha faster than you can say “colored vinyl!” Or at least by December 20.

This special split goes by the name of “Marooned” b/w “Demon Oar.” It’s a collaboration between The Everybody and legendary studio wizard Eddie Kramer (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Curtis Mayfield) on “Marooned” and the anagram-loving Indiana alt-rockers Stationary Odyssey on “Demon Oar.” (Stationary Odyssey’s contribution is a reworked version of Side A.) Pixies superfans and weirdo collectors of limited-run releases, take note! Because this baby’s limited to a run of 300 and it comes on delicate white vinyl, nestled snugly into a screen-printed wooden case by Ryan Grisham of the band Mock Orange. There’s even a Kickstarter page for those that want to give/get more. Lyrics schyrics. The sounds of a million Pixies fans drooling should be more than enough.

Consider this preaching to the choir, but thank God (or whomever) for the ability to record and reproduce. Just as the Ancient Egyptians creatively revealed the obscure fashion choices of 2500 BC through their paintings and sculptures, analog and digital recording have continually demonstrated their value by allowing musical expression to live on perpetually (or until the medium degrades or is destroyed, or files are deleted). Serving as yet another testament to the benefit of this immutability, Under the Radar reports, in an interview with bass guitarist James Cargill, that he’s been sifting through vocal recordings from the late Trish Keenan, in preparation for an entirely new Broadcast album.

Well, maybe. Upon closer inspection, it appears as though such an album isn’t entirely set in stone. Here’s presumably the whole of what Cargill had to say on the subject: “Trish left a lot of tapes, four-tracks and stuff, and I’ve been going through those. It’s difficult, and I’m connected to it at the same time. It’s wonderful, but I’m also feeling a sense of loss.” With regard to the prospect of using these prior recordings on a future album, he equivocally states, “I think that would be a wonderful thing.” So, technically, this apparitional album barely qualifies as being in the works.

More definitively, however, Cargill states how he is also planning to complete the soundtrack for the 2013 film Berberian Sound Studio, which he and Keenan both initially worked together on. There’s no word on what Keenan’s contributions actually consisted of, but no matter; I think the majority of us are more than grateful for the seductively lackadaisical nature of her previous recordings.